Monday, January 9, 2012

"The litmus for our elected leaders must not be the church they attend but the Constitution they defend."

"...In fashioning this remarkably enduring document, the 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia made it absolutely clear that no religious test should ever be imposed to hold office...The litmus for our elected leaders must not be the church they attend but the Constitution they defend.""Citizens as voters do well when they pause to reflect on our nation’s history and traditions. If an unbeliever such as Jefferson or non-churchman like Lincoln can serve brilliantly as president, then America should stand — in an intolerant world characterized all too frequently by religious persecution — as a stirring example of welcoming hospitality for highly qualified men and women of good will seeking the nation’s highest office. Life experience, personal qualities and policy views are the pivotal points to guide Americans as they go to the polls in 2012." "Can I vote for a Mormon?" by Ken Starr (President of Baylor University)

5 comments:

What if the person were a member of a white-supremacist organization or a supporting member of Westboro Baptist Church? Would it then be appropriate to judge them based off of their religious affiliation?

If someone desecrates the American flag, pickets funerals of slain American soldiers, and is a white-supremacist homophobe--that's plenty to disqualify them as "Presidential" material in my mind, regardless of the church they belong to. I'd still base my judgement on their "life experience[s}, personal qualities and policy views".

narrator, that person would not be judged because he or she was Baptist. He or she would be judged for being a member of a radically extreme, tiny offshoot of the Baptist denomination that even most quite extreme Baptists reject.

No, it was directly on topic and totally relevant. You asked a question about a small, extremist group. The better question would have been if Mormons will support a Baptist candidate who believes Mormonism is a cult that will land them in Hell. With that question, we are talking about a real similarity with people who won't vote for a Mormon because of his beliefs.

Iow, your scenario was the strawman - and, fwiw, my answer to the better question is that I would (and have) voted for such a person.

The Essence Of Our Faith

"The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it."